I was in the same boat as you.. I was not sure what i wanted and only had $500 max to spend but was looking in the $300-400 range... Look at Nashbar or bikesdirect... they have decent deals... if you are not a die hard then these probably will work for you... I bought the wrong bike right off the bat,,, i am trrading it tomorrow...the Hybrid is nice but i think i may end up with a road bike... will find out at 10 am tomorrow... If you want a nice hybrid for the money the Giant Cypress is $385.00... if you get any cheaper than that the key word may be "CHEAPER"... Again if you are not a die hard don't let people tell you you're a fool to get a $250.00 bike, you know what you are getting and after riding it a year or so you might want to upgrade to something better if you are serious about it... Don't worry about all the HIGH DOllar bull$hit....Get what you feel is right but also get the most that you can afford...I bought a $169.00 Schwinn Admiral for my wife at Wal-Mart because i knew she wouldn't get up every morning like me and do 10 miles before work...So $169 was justified and it's an OK bike, that is all i can say about it.... If i had all the money in the world i wouldn't give a flying rat's a$$....

Good luck and most important . ENJOY.